Posts Tagged ‘Sky Tonight’

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Given clear skies, you cannot miss seeing the waning crescent moon with the blazing planet Venus before sunrise tomorrow (Saturday, January 29). The moon and Venus rank as the second and third brightest celestial bodies in all the heavens. The sun, of course, ranks as the brightest celestial body of them all.
Look into the east or southeast sky at or before dawn to enjoy the beautiful morning tableau. Almost
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Courtesy of EarthSky
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Starting today – on January 27, 2011 – Saturn will begin to go in a retrograde or westward direction in front of the constellation Virgo. That is a signal that the best time to see Saturn in 2011 has begun.
Give me 5 minutes, and I’ll give you Saturn in 2011
The planet Saturn – a golden world that appears to shine steadily on the sky’s dome – is rising in the east around 11 p.m. now. Saturn climbs
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Courtesy of EarthSky
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Today’s chart is almost just like the January 23 chart, but today we have changed our observing location. Normally, our charts are set for the geographical center of the continental U.S. – say, somewhere in Kansas. Today’s chart is set to the extreme southern U.S.
It is as if we are gazing at stars from the southernmost part of the country . . . maybe along the Texas/Mexico border, or from the Florida Keys.
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Courtesy of EarthSky
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The last quarter moon and the planet Saturn will shine on opposite sides of the bright star Spica before sunrise tomorrow (January 26). As seen from the northern hemisphere, the trio will appear southward before dawn.
If you are more of a night owl than an early bird, and live at mid-northern latitudes, you can catch all three – the moon, Spica, and Saturn – in your southeastern sky around 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.
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Courtesy of EarthSky
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If you are willing to stay up late or to get up early, you can use the waning gibbous moon to find the planet Saturn and the constellation Virgo’s brightest star Spica. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, comparable to those in the United States, you might see all three luminaries – the moon, Saturn, Spica – low in your eastern sky by around midnight tonight. Farther north, the shining threesome rises
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Courtesy of EarthSky
A Clear Voice for Science
Visit EarthSky at
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Bright star in southwest on January evenings? It’s the planet Jupiter
Here is a constellation for you if you have access to a very dark sky: Eridanus the River. You will not see this one from the city, or even the suburbs. Eridanus the River begins near the star Rigel in the constellation Orion the Hunter – and wells up in a great loop before ambling back down toward the southern horizon.
Rigel: Orion’s
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Courtesy of EarthSky
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Tonight’s chart covers a wider area of sky than what we typically show. It is in answer to a reader in Nashville, who wrote, I have heard mention of the Winter Circle of Stars. Could you list the stars in this circle?
You will find these stars at this time of year by looking east-southeast at early to mid evening.
Again, this is a large pattern and covers a wide area of sky, but as always, it is easiest to start
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Courtesy of EarthSky
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The constellation Orion the Hunter is probably the easiest to pick out of all the constellations in the winter sky. It is identifiable by Orion’s Belt, three medium-bright stars in a short, straight row at the mid-section of the Hunter. See these stars? They are easy to spot on the sky’s dome.
As seen from mid-northern latitudes, you will find Orion in the southeast at nightfall and shining high in the
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Courtesy of EarthSky
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This is the first full moon after the December solstice. In North America, we commonly call this full moon the Old Moon or Moon After Yule.
Can you tell me the full moon names?
The photograph above is by sky artist, Dan Bush, by the way. Be sure to check out his moon page.
Look for tonight’s full moon to rise in the east around sunset today (Wednesday, January 19). Like every full moon, it will climb highest in
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Courtesy of EarthSky
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The moon will look full tonight as it shines close to the constellation Gemini’s brightest stars, Castor and Pollux. The moon will not actually be astronomically full – or most opposite the sun – until tomorrow, on Wednesday, January 19.
Although we draw in the stick figure of the Gemini Twins on tonight’s chart, you will not see much of Gemini in the moonlight except for Castor and Pollux. By the last
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